Saturday, November 29, 2008

I need to get out more. I really do... I am like a swivel headed toy instead of the car passenger. Everything is sooooo amazingly exciting... I have been in the city for about 48 hours and so far I have seen.....

**3 fire trucks at an apartment fire alarm. You know a big apartment building, with hundreds of apartments... and amazingly.. nobody ever evacuated the building. Three giant fire trucks with very nice looking firemen, who slowing walked up to the entrance of the apartment building like they knew there was nothing wrong.... One of the firetrucks was a BIG ladder truck too... very cool.

**a car accident with one fire truck, 2 police cars, and ambulance, the jaws of life and stretchers... and it was in the middle of a very busy intersection and life went on for the hundreds of cars that were trying to get where they needed to go.

**a near car accident right in front of us, with cars drifting into other lanes, and honking horns and fingers flying....

** a huge restaurant that just served Sushi... very cool.

**a woman talking on a cellphone and waving expressively with her other hand (ok visualize this, she didn't have ANY hands on the steering wheel) and she was driving fairly fast down a busy road. We followed her for at least a minute and her hands never touched the steering wheel!

**another car accident where two cars collided head on, and we arrived after they had been pulled apart and we drove right between the two cars (with some direction from a very bossy looking woman on a cellphone.)ummmm... I am seeing a pattern.... maybe that's why talking on cellphones is illegal now in Nova Scotia.

**and today...another car accident right in the BIG intersection at the St. Laurent Mall, at 5PM... on a Saturday...with over 1 million Christmas shoppers trying to get home for supper.... included me!

but by far.. my favorite big city vs little village eye opener is the Superstore... yup... the Superstore. I have driven by it at least 12 times so far in the past few days... and I react differently each time.... from disbelief to mad giggling fits to head shaking awe! I only wish I was still here on Thursday!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

I have flown several times in my life, but the last time was well over 14 years ago. The longer I avoided it, the more I started to fear it. I have always felt that there is something unnatural about a big 20 ton metal object full of people flying at 500km an hour, 40,000 ft in the air. I live 2 km from a military airport that had several big planes dance around the skies, taking off and landing several times a day... just for fun!

Well, as we barrelled down the runway this morning at 6:25am, I clenched my teeth, gripped the arms and slammed my eyes shut. I unconsciously held my breath and chanted.."they know what they are doing" over and over again. After a little while, I started breathing, and I opened my eyes and things were ok. I looked around and everyone was going about their business. We were sort of leveling off and the sky was actually beautiful. I sat for a while, listening to every sound the plane made, ever creak and buzz. The attendants weren't one bit nervous when we seemed to drop and shutter a bit. They scurried back and forth with headphones, snacks for sale and then finally the free stuff. Coffee, Tea, Tomato juice, fruit juices and water. And for the free dining choices... digestive cookies or Bits and bites. So, for me, coffee and tiny bag of bits and bites! Terry and his mom, snoozed and dug out my ipod headphones and enjoyed the tiny little TV that had like 20 channels, and at 6:45 in the morning I watched "Holmes on Homes" and then Real Renos...

All in all, the flight was enjoyable, and landing in Toronto was pretty amazing. The city was spectacular from the air and landing was sort of freaky, but with my help on the brakes (my hands and feet were planted squarely on the seat and floor in front of me) we managed to stop on dime. After an hour's wait in TO and some serious people watching to pass the time, we did the whole scary take off and sharp incline to the sky.. 20 minutes of level flying and then back down for another teeth clenching landing and we were there. I had hearing problems the rest of the day with that landing but seeing everyone was a great distraction to the intermittent buzzing that I would unexpectedly experience. Flying over Ottawa was very cool, and with a light snow on the ground, it made the whole view very cool. The Rideau looked amazing.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Our family has had some sad times this year, but not today. Today we wish my little Kimmie Trigg Happy birthday. Kim is my sister in law, Terry's sister. The one born after him. She is the middle child (like myself) shes married to a fantastic guy and she is mother of two wonderful girls.Kim is kind hearted and caring, really smart and a good sport. Our lives intertwined from very early on, when I was 16 and she was 13 and we were in the same "teen town" at our home in Sydney. I was a grown up teen, and she was a newbie... who would have thought 30 some years later we are still spending weekends together, sharing family joys and family sadness. Our kids both go to St FX and we both have black labs. She was my daughter's first babysitter and I am God mother to one of hers.

Kim and Stephanie ... 1985

Kim and Caleigh-2002 (I think)

Happy birthday, Kim.

You have been a great friend, a super sister in law and an awesome auntie!!! I hope today is special in its own way and know that we are all wishing you the best...

Saturday, November 22, 2008

yup, over night. Between midnight and 10am. geesh... 13 inches in the driveway at 10 and then up to 16 by supper time... and its still coming

The birdfeeder in the front.. in the morning

Bird feeder in the back yard...

Garden Dragon fly that stayed out too longNew ideas...

Michelle and Scott bought Mollie these most embarrassing pink shoes for winter fun... and Mollie has had them on a couple of times but today was her first snow play... they didn't last any longer than 15 minutes... she wore them...no problem... but she blew the bottom out of one and it filled from the bottom instead!!!The snow is heavy... wet..... plentiful...

the beginning.. there is always a begining.... hat hair.... runny noses....snowy jackets....wet mitts....sore elbows from shovelling.....wet dog smell.... snowballs on the floor.... the dull din of the weather network on the tv ALL THE TIME....cranky cat..... grocery store conversations about the weather

Its amazing the range of emotions you can go through in the span of a day. The shock of someone dying suddenly begins a flow of thoughts and emotions that weighs you down to a lethargic lump.

Terry's dad has battled cancer for 2 years and won. He spent months on chemo... more months recovering from body sores and aching muscles.. He came through the other side, after chemo .... cancer free but with damaged lungs. He worked on exercise to get some strength back and improve his lungs... he struggled to eat.. and struggled with emotions..... and sore joints.

And then he died of a heart attack... In the blink of a eye.

We all feel that he never really won the battle with his cancer... the struggle took bits of him every day.. and its my personal belief that his poor heart could not keep all the parts running for him.

My dearest Frank... my daughters very first and very funny grandfather... we have so many fun memories of you... thank you for all of them.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

This weekend was the busiest weekend I have put in for ages... I can't even begin to explain the whole weekend, but we were kept in stitches by Michelle and Scott's two little kittens. These little kittens do not have access to any windows at their regular home. They are in hiding sort of... the Landlord says... no pets... and therefore, the kids have taped the blinds down so the cats cannot peek through and been seen by the neighbours or their ever present landlord.

Imagine how much fun these guys had this weekend when they had a bird's eye view of the bird feeder and all the warm winds.. blowing leaves everywhere... they were synchronized in their window watching.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

I am not sure where traditions begin... and how they develop. I guess every family makes their own traditions... without even knowing. Maybe they start with "habit" and grow into traditions as we look back and long for "the old days".

I had forgotten some of the funnest parts of Trick or Treating, having gotten away from the feverish anticipation of waiting, the glee of waiting for the door to open and wondering what kind of yummy treats that would be scored! The fun of seeing your friends dressed up funny and your teachers wearing funny hats and giving you awesome treats...

I had the pleasure of experiencing all that again last night. I spent the evening with Abbey, Micheal and Chantal. It has been a very long time since I have spend an evening with four year olds getting ready for Halloween. Actually spending time with 4 year olds has been long over due really. How fun to hear the high pitched giggles, the hopping of excitement, and the pride of a treasured costume. We practiced how to do the trick or treat at the door, how to say thank you, and we watched and waited for the very first Trick or treaters to come. that is usually the sign that its time to start off on their journey.

I had the really fun job of handing out treats in a small quiet subdivision while Chantal walked the dark and cold streets with her kids and several others youngsters. My job when the kids were little was also the walk about. I loved that part the most, and Terry loved staying home, handing out treats and scaring the crap out of the little kids, and big kids and even some moms once they braved the terrors of our yard, and the dark brown tunnel they had to travel through to get to the door...

therefore, I totally enjoyed sitting on the door step and watching the kids come up the street and I made them either tell me a joke, do a dance or a trick for me before I loaded their bags with Chantals treats...

Once the kids and Chantal got home, it was looting time. The kids were thrilled with all their goodies. I scored Cheeto crunchies... my fav for Halloween Treats...

Once our little trick'rtreaters when off to bed...We invited Richard Gere to spend the evening with us...I asked him to bring his tux and the red rose.... and we danced all evening... Chantal dressed up as Jenn Lopez and I was Miss Mitzi!!! Of course with Richard and Chantal dancing all over the living room, no one had time to take my picture as Miss Mitzi!!! I headed home around 11pm and took Richard with me.... So... traditions... its a mystery how they happen, how they grow and why we crave for them when they are gone... but I think Richard for Halloween is a pretty good tradition, I might start...